GIRLS HOOPS: Moving down to Class 4A should help Splendora

Splendoras Jordan Carter (22) shoots during the girls basketball game against New Caney on Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2018, at New Caney High School. (Michael Minasi / Houston Chronicle)

Splendoras Jordan Carter (22) shoots during the girls basketball game against New Caney on Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2018, at New Caney High School. (Michael Minasi / Houston Chronicle)

Photo: Michael Minasi, Staff Photographer / Houston Chronicle

Photo: Michael Minasi, Staff Photographer / Houston Chronicle

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Splendoras Jordan Carter (22) shoots during the girls basketball game against New Caney on Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2018, at New Caney High School. (Michael Minasi / Houston Chronicle)

Splendoras Jordan Carter (22) shoots during the girls basketball game against New Caney on Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2018, at New Caney High School. (Michael Minasi / Houston Chronicle)

Photo: Michael Minasi, Staff Photographer / Houston Chronicle

GIRLS HOOPS: Moving down to Class 4A should help Splendora

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The good news for Splendora girls basketball coach Oscar Kendall is his team moves down this year to Class 4A where the program has had success in the past.

The bad news for Kendall is they will have to do so after the graduation of the school’s all-time leading scorer.

Jessica Hiltibrand will instead suit up for Cornell College in Iowa after ending her career with 1,487 points scored for Splendora. She averaged 17.6 points per game last year, by the far the top performer for the Ladycats, and was a first-team All-District and All-Montgomery County selection.

“Jessica was a special, special girl,” Kendall said in a recent phone interview.

The team’s second leading scorer is back in 5-foot-7 senior Jordan Carter. She averaged 8 points per game last year.

“She’ll be really looked on to take the reigns and take the leadership role of the program,” Kendall said of Carter.

Senior Shelby Keck is also back and Kendall described the 5-foot-6 senior as a critical member of the team and will have a crucial role scoring the ball. Keck is the top returning rebounder at 3.1 per game.

“We’re missing two starters from last year,” Kendall said. “But we have some underclassmen that have stepped up and are filling the holes in.”

Kendall mentioned junior point guard Bree Bowers as the one who will step in a point guard with Hiltibrand gone. He also said to look for junior Audrey Frazier to play a big role on the team as well.

“We are going to have to spread the ball around and look to Jordan Carter,” Kendall said. “Bree Bowers is very quick. She’ll be taking over the point guard position from Jessica.”

Playing as the smallest Class 5A program in the state the past two years, the Ladycats struggled. Their overall record in the two years was 20-43 with a 7-24 mark in district play.

“Moving down classifications is going to help us tremendously,” Kendall said. “We’re not out-matched size-wise and personnel-wise (anymore). That’s going to help us this year in my opinion.”

Splendora will play in District 21-4A this year along with Tarkington, Huffman-Hargrave, Liberty, Livingston and Shepherd. The Ladycats made the playoffs their final three years in Class 4A (2014-16) before making the leap to 5A in the fall of 2016.

The 2018-19 season marks Kendall’s second as head coach at Splendora. It takes time to build up a program and he said his team are heading in the right direction.

“You have to build the relationships with the girls,” Kendall said. “It takes a little while to do that. But once you do that, the girls start working better and start buying into the program. They give it 110 percent. It took us awhile to get that done.”